Report Finds Subprime Disparities in New Orleans

African-Americans and Latinos in New Orleans are about twice as likely to receive a subprime home loan as nonminorities, according to a new report released by the Louisiana Community Reinvestment Coalition.The report, compiled by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, also found that disproportionately fewer small-business loans are going to businesses in minority census tracts. "It's not clear if the imbalance in loan type among whites, African-Americans, and Latinos is due to discrimination, predatory practices, or some other factor," said Emma Dixon, project director of the LCRC. "What is clear, however, is that local lenders must do more to provide affordable, equitable lending products and to minimize the large number of high-cost subprime mortgages and small-business loans to people of color and in minority neighborhoods." The report found that prime loans represented 82% of all single-family loans to whites in New Orleans, 68% of such loans to Latinos, and 51% of such loans to blacks. The LCRC is a joint project of the Boston-based UFE and the Washington-based NCRC, which can be found online at http://www.ncrc.org.